PocketView shows smart displays through fabrics

According to the team, PocketView can function as a stand-alone piece of technology or be incorporated into existing or next-generation smart devices.

The researchers from the University of Waterloo created prototypes that mimic smartphones, pens, key fobs and other shapes and sizes. The display shines through fabrics to show notifications for email or messages, time, weather or other forms of basic information.

CLICK FOR MORE FROM WEARABLES

“The idea is not to show all the information that you would normally see on your smartphone display,” said Antony Albert Raj Irudayaraj, a PhD researcher with the Cheriton School of Computer Science at Waterloo. “These are displays that show minimal information. That’s good enough if you’re walking or biking, for example, to show basic navigation instructions. Or let’s say you received a message and don’t want to divert attention from what you’re doing. You can peek at the display and see the notification.”

The new display technology was developed by a team of researchers working in the field of human-computer interaction. Prior to device development the team conducted a public survey with 106 respondents that informed the design for the prototypes.